Can’t Wait Wednesday – EARLY DEPARTURES by Justin A. Reynolds
/22 Comments/by Suzanne
“Waiting On” Wednesday is a weekly event, hosted at Breaking the Spine, which encourages fellow bloggers to spotlight upcoming releases that we’re excited about. It is a meme that I have loved participating in for over a year now, but as Jill is no longer actively posting, from now on I’ll be linking to Can’t Wait Wednesday, hosted by Tressa at Wishful Endings, which is a spinoff of the original WoW meme.
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My selection for this week is EARLY DEPARTURES by Justin A. Reynolds. I really enjoyed Reynolds’ debut novel, Opposite of Always, so I’m looking forward to checking out his next book. This one is described as a YA contemporary novel with a speculative twist, perfect for fans of Nicola Yoon, Becky Albertalli, and Adam Silvera. I love how unique the storyline is and that it hits on a theme that many of us can probably relate to…losing someone without having had the chance to say goodbye.
EARLY DEPARTURES by Justin A. Reynolds
Publication Date: September 22, 2020 by Katherine Tegen Books
From Goodreads:
Justin A. Reynolds, author of Opposite of Always, delivers another smart, funny, and powerful stand-alone YA contemporary novel, with a speculative twist in which Jamal’s best friend is brought back to life after a freak accident . . . but they only have a short time together before he will die again.
Jamal’s best friend, Q, doesn’t know he’s about to die . . . again.
He also doesn’t know that Jamal tried to save his life, rescuing him from drowning only to watch Q die later in the hospital. Even more complicated, Jamal and Q haven’t been best friends in two years—not since Jamal’s parents died in a car accident, leaving him and his sister to carry on without them. Grief swallowed Jamal whole, and he blamed Q for causing the accident.
But what if Jamal could have a second chance? An impossible chance that would grant him the opportunity to say goodbye to his best friend? A new health-care technology allows Q to be reanimated—brought back to life like the old Q again. But there’s a catch: Q will only reanimate for a short time before he dies . . . forever.
Jamal is determined to make things right with Q, but grief is hard to shake. And he can’t tell Q why he’s suddenly trying to be friends with him again. Because Q has no idea that he died, and Q’s mom is not about to let anyone ruin the miracle by telling him. How can Jamal fix his friendship with Q if he can’t tell him the truth?
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I’d love to hear what upcoming book releases you’re waiting on this Wednesday? Leave me your link in the comments below and I’ll stop by and check out your CWW selection for this week. 🙂
Top Ten Tuesday – Authors I’ve Read the Most Books By
/40 Comments/by SuzanneTop Ten Tuesday was created by The Broke and the Bookish in June of 2010 and was moved to That Artsy Reader Girl in January 2018. It was born of a love of lists, a love of books, and a desire to bring bookish friends together. Top Ten Tuesday has been one of my favorite memes ever since I started blogging, so huge thanks to Jana for taking over the hosting duties!
This week’s TTT topic is Authors I’ve Read the Most Books By. This was an interesting topic for me, mainly because it really highlighted that since I’ve been blogging, I don’t often read many books by the same author. With very rare exceptions such as Victoria Schwab and Leigh Bardugo, my obsession with those shiny, new releases has had me jumping from author to author for a while now. Maybe I’ve read two or three books by the same author, but that’s about it. To find anymore than that, I had to dig way back into my Goodreads history. In a couple of cases, I had to go back to my college coursework and in one case, I had to go all the way back to my childhood!
One author I included I was hesitant to do so, just because she has become so problematic on social media with some of her views. I finally decided to include her anyway for authenticity’s sake since she is definitely one of my most-read authors. I may never read anything else from her again but that doesn’t erase her from my reading past.
Anyway, below are my most read authors, to date, as well as all of the books I’ve read from each of them.
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Authors I’ve Read the Most Books By
1. VICTORIA (V.E.) SCHWAB
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2. LEIGH BARDUGO
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3. SARAH J. MAAS
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4. JANE AUSTEN
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5. TONI MORRISON
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6. JANET EVANOVICH
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8. ALICE HOFFMAN
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9. JUDY BLUME
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10. SHE WHO WILL NOT BE NAMED
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Question: What authors have you read the most books by? Did any of mine make your list?
Reviews: THE HEIR AFFAIR & NOT LIKE THE MOVIES
/22 Comments/by Suzanne
I hope everyone who was celebrating this weekend had a safe and fun 4th of July holiday. I spent most of my holiday weekend reading so today I’m sharing reviews for a couple of fun contemporary reads that are coming out this week. The Heir Affair and Not Like the Movies are the perfect reads to escape into this summer.
The Heir Affair (Royal We, #2) Goodreads
Author: Heather Cocks & Jessica Morgan
Publication Date: July 7, 2020
Publisher: Grand Central Publishing
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
If you enjoy books about royalty or have ever fancied yourself marrying the future King of England, The Royal We series by Heather Cocks and Jessica Morgan needs to be on your must read list. The Royal We, the first book in the series, follows American college student Rebecca Porter (Bex) and Prince Nicholas (Nick), the future King of Great Britain as they meet, fall in love, and navigate the many obstacles that stand in the way of Bex becoming a member of the Royal Family, while the newest novel in the series, The Heir Affair, picks up with Nick and Bex as a newly married couple starting out their lives together.
While I thoroughly enjoyed both of these books, what I really loved about The Heir Affair is that it really takes a deep dive into Nick and Bex’s relationship. Some very dramatic events from the first book have really shaken them. They need time to heal and regroup, and then they also need to work to try to reconcile with Nick’s brother, Freddie, as well as mend their reputations with respect to the people of Great Britain. The authors do a wonderful job of making Bex and Nick’s relationship easy to relate to. Even though they are royalty and many of their issues and challenges are royal problems that most of us can only imagine in our wildest dreams, many of the other challenges they face are normal, everyday couple issues.
Of course there are still plenty of humorous moments sprinkled throughout the book, particularly with respect to Bex’s relationship with the Queen and with Bex and Nick’s circle of friends from college who are always entertaining. As much as Bex and Nick’s journey through married life and, in particular, their strained relationship with Freddie, tugged at my heartstrings, the humorous moments really balanced things out, as did some of the long-buried, juicy royal secrets that come to light and shake things up for everyone.
As much as I enjoyed The Royal We, I couldn’t have asked for a better sequel in The Heir Affair. Overall, a very satisfying read. 4 STARS
Not Like the Movies (Waiting for Tom Hanks, #2) Goodreads
Author: Kerry Winfrey
Publication Date: July 7, 2020
Publisher: Berkley Books
FTC Disclosure: I received a complimentary copy of this book from Netgalley. All opinions are my own.
I went into Kerry Winfrey’s new novel, Not Like the Movies, hoping for a bit of light rom-com goodness, but I have to say that I fully underestimated this book because Not Like the Movies has turned out to be one of my favorite reads of the summer so far. While yes, it has plenty of that rom-com goodness I was looking for, it also has so much more.
Chloe Sanderson is the protagonist of the story and I adored her and just found her so relatable. Chloe has a big heart, always going out of her way to do nice things for others. She also has a lot on her plate, working as a waitress and baker at Nick’s Café, going to school to finish her business degree, and, most importantly, caring for her aging father who has Alzheimer’s. Chloe’s life is further complicated when her best friend Annie, an up and coming filmmaker, writes a rom-com screenplay inspired by Chloe’s life and her romance with her boss, Nick. There’s just one problem…Chloe and Nick are not in a relationship and never have been.
When Annie’s screenplay is actually picked up by a major studio, Chloe’s fictionalized life is suddenly everywhere and everyone thinks she and Nick are together. Awkward! Things become even more awkward as Chloe starts to consider the possibility of dating her boss. She doesn’t have time for it with everything else on her plate and doesn’t even know if she believes in love, but Nick is kind of irresistible in a sexy, grumpy yet super sweet Luke Danes from Gilmore Girls kind of way. I loved Nick and Chloe’s chemistry and immediately became fully invested in the “Will they or won’t they?” pull of the story.
As much as I adored the rom-com aspect of Nick and Chloe’s evolving relationship, what really took Not Like the Movies to the next level for me was Chloe’s journey as she tries to balance everything she has going on in her life. It’s an emotional one for her because she’s always so worried about caring for others, especially her Dad, and leaves her own self-care out of the equation. Even though the journey is a struggle for her, I loved watching Chloe grow as a person, and I especially enjoyed watching her assert herself when it comes to her brother, who has conveniently stayed away and not pulled his weight when it comes to matters of their family.
There’s just so much to love about Not Like the Movies. I flew through it in a couple of sittings and even though I was completely satisfied with the ending, I was actually still just a little sad just because I wasn’t ready to say goodbye to Chloe and Nick yet. If you’re in the mood for a story that features romance, family drama, and friendship, this is your book. Oh and there’s pie too! Lots of pie! 4.5 STARS